Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has disclosed that the Energy Sector Levy Account has accrued 350 million cedis as at August 2016.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”jJxaw8FDENhj41TaJXm56FEfyLZVoPUE”]He made the disclosure when he addressed the media on Wednesday, August 31st<\/sup>, 2016, on measures taken to address the legacy debts in the power sector.<\/p>\n \u201cThe power generation and infrastructure levy plus the energy debt or the energy debt service accounts, we have approximately GH\u00a2350 million,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n Mr. Terkper added, \u201cWith respect to the energy debt service account which has a total of four separate accounts as we speak, is in excess of nearly GH\u00a2280 million\u2026We have the power generation and infrastructural support that\u2019s a portion of that; the 250 million is the combination of the infrastructure. Also, the price stabilization levy has so far accrued about GH\u00a2130 million approximately.\u201d<\/p>\n The Energy Sector Levy Act, which was passed in December 2015, received lots of criticisms as fuel prices at the pumps went up as high as 27 percent.<\/p>\n As part of generating revenue to offset some accumulated debts within the country\u2019s energy sector and make the energy companies viable, government in December 2015,\u00a0introduced the Energy Sector levies<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>to place taxes on some petroleum products.<\/p>\n The Energy Sector Levy saw the introduction of the energy debt recovery levy and the price stabilisation and recovery levy.<\/p>\n In addition, the road fund and the energy fund were revised upwards.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the TOR debt recovery levy, the cross-subsidy levy and the exploration levy were withdrawn.<\/p>\n In the State of the Nation address early this year, President John Mahama defended<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the passage of the Energy Sector Levy Act; saying the decision was needed to protect state intuitions such as the VRA and ECG from sinking under huge debts.<\/p>\n